Moonheart's Choice
Chapter One I know I’m not an ordinary kit. But I do ordinary things. I play with the other kits. I play Mossball. I listen to Hollyberry’s stories. So, I guess you’re wondering: Why am I not ordinary? Well… I have wings. White feathery wings, sprouting from my back. Yes, I can fly; but I usually end up crashing into something. And then there’s my brother Enderkit… He’s far from ordinary. He stays in the nursery, not looking at anyone. One second, he’s there, and the next he’s on the roof of the nursery, or something. Like today he killed a cat. Accidentally, though. Foxfoot’s kits were out practicing hunting moves, so we were left to ourselves. Enderkit lay slumped in the corner of the den, studying his paws. “Come on!” I whined, nudging him. He tensed but didn’t budge. I sighed with defeat and padded over to Wolfsong. She’s the deputy, but Dragonfang’s taking her place until Enderkit and I become apprentices. “Can we go outside?” I asked her. Wolfsong sat up and stroked one of my wings with her nose. “Just look after your brother, okay?” she whispered. I nodded and dragged Enderkit outside. He lifted his head up, wincing at the bright daylight. I noticed that he was staring at something distant, as if not wanting to make eye contact. “Want to see me fly?” I asked, my paws tingling. “You know that always gets us into bad situations,” he mumbles. I sat up straight. "Okay, name one,” I challenged. Enderkit tilted his head and closed his eyes. “We almost got captured by ShadowClan, we almost drowned, and there was the time we wrecked Cloudwhiskers’ herb store.” I snorted. “Cloudwhiskers never cares about herbs, he doesn't even care about Starclan.” “Just… I don’t want you to fly, okay?” Still with closed eyes, Enderkit rested his tail tip on my shoulder. “I’m going back inside.” I turn around. “Enderkit, wait!” He quickly whipped his head around. “Why do you always have your eyes closed? Why don’t you look at me, or any other cat?” He sighed and plopped down. “You’re my sister,” he meowed. “I don’t want to hurt you, or any cat.” I watched him disappear from where he was sitting. “Enderkit!” I screamed. My gaze locked onto one of the purple sparks that were left behind and is vanished as it touched the ground. “Moonkit!” Nightclaw gasped. “What’s wrong? Where’s Enderkit?” He came running over, with his apprentice Fluffypaw behind him. “Enderkit just vanished!” I screeched. Nightclaw looked at me in amazement. “Just like that?” “Yep.” “Oh.” He glanced around the busy camp. “We’ve got to find him.” He nudged me towards the nursery. “Check if he’s in there, before we start any problems.” I crept into the dark nursery, nodding a greeting to my mother and her sister, Foxfoot. “Enderkit,” I softly called, before I noticed two luminous purple eyes burning into mine. I quickly looked away. “Nightclaw, I found him,” I called into the darkness. Instead of Nightclaw, Hollyberry lumbered in noisily. I froze as I realised that the was looking into Enderkit’s eyes. Straight into them. She doesn't know… She froze, then collapsed to the ground, screaming like no animal I had ever heard before. She started to jerk about, her muscles having severe spasms. Cats came rushing in, aware that something was dying. Worriedly, I looked around for Enderkit, but he seemed to be in multiple places at once. Purple sparks were everywhere. I saw him clinging to the nursery ceiling, then launching himself down to slash at Hollyberry with unsheathed claws, then disappearing again. And then the weirdest thing: Cloudwhiskers was watching this with amusement. Sicko. Couldn’t he see that a cat was dying here? The screaming had gone now, and Hollyberry stood up, trembling. Several cats backed out of the nursery. Then Hollyberry started spouting up gibberish, and then Enderkit stared into her eyes one more time, and then she collapsed to the ground, dead. Enderkit had just killed a cat. My brother was a murderer. “Enderkit,” meowed Cloudwhiskers quietly, “I think you have to come with me.” He stepped aside so Frostflower could carry Hollyberry’s mangled body out of the nursery, but Enderkit was nowhere to be seen. “Oh Enderkit,” I whispered, “What have you done?” Chapter Two All that was just a minute ago. Sweetstar is dragging my mother out of the den, cats are screaming, and Enderkit is gone. Cloudwhiskers approaches me slowly and strokes one of my wings with his nose. “I think I’ll explain to you what's wrong with your brother, and how you got your wings.” Cloudwhiskers ushers me deeper into his den. “Your mother was born with powers, to be able to fight and hunt well. My mother had been studying her - my mother’s dead now, and she comes to me in my dreams, but that’s not important - and reached into her mind in a battle with Shadowclan. She heard one of her kits’ voices telling her that her powers will be gone and given to the next generation, which is you and Enderkit. You have wings, and the ability to fly, but Enderkit, on the other hand, is much more complicated.” I nod. “That makes sense.” “But what puzzles me is that maybe Enderkit has something, a set of powers I've never seen before. I’d like to have a look at his blood and do a few things of which you will not understand.” He hustles me out of his den. “Go on, search the camp for him.” “But what if he’s not here?” I wail. Cloudwhiskers paused. "Then wait for him to come back." "But what if he doesn't come back?" "He'll come back," Cloudwhiskers snapped. "Now stop pestering me!" I sigh and pad towards Sweetstar’s den. I have to ask Wolfsong about something. But why not eavesdrop too? Perhaps I could find something important… I shake my head. Eavesdropping would be a nasty thing to do. Buy why not take the chance? I only live once, right? I smile evilly to myself and crouch down at the entrance. I stifle a gasp as I smell blood. “Your kits are traitors, Wolfsong, and so are you!” snarls Sweetstar. “Failure to look after your kits! Your kits killing clanmates! Once a helpless kit, now a respected elder? I’m sick to death of this!” “I was sleeping!” Wolfsong spits back. Sweetstar tuts. “Excuses, excuses.” “Oh, I’m sorry that my first litter of kits were half-Shadowclan,” Wolfsong says sarcastically. Both she-cats gasp, and Wolfsong tumbles to the entrance of the den, right next to me. “Moonkit?” she croaks, “What are you doing here?” Several scratches run along her flank, bright red. “I heard your conversation and decided to take a closer listen.” A lie, but that isn’t important right now. “You have to have your wounds treated, and Enderkit has to be found.” Wolfsong laughs. “You’re so serious for such a young kit.” I sigh. “Maybe I should be more of a kit than a warrior?” “For now.” Wolfsong closes her eyes. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that.” “You seem broken.” I nudge her paws. “Just let me be. I have to be like a normal queen. I don’t have powers anymore.” Her eyes snap open. “You know about that, right?” “I know all!” I meow in a dramatic voice, adding an evil laugh for more effect. Wolfsong staggers to her feet, and carries herself over to the medicine den. “How long is it until we become apprentices?” I squeak, trying to be more kit-like. Wolfsong purrs painfully. “Four moons.” “Do you think you’ll be stripped of your rank of deputy?” I ask, widening my eyes and bouncing around. “Most likely,” Wolfsong answers, “But it was Starclan’s choice for me to be deputy. If another deputy is chosen and I’m back to being a normal queen, Sweetstar will be disobeying Starclan.” “That would be awesome! I hate Sweetstar!” I dig my claws into the ground. “Join the club,” Wolfsong purrs as we enter the den. I look around. “Where’s Cloudwhiskers?” Wolfsong opens her mouth to answer, but a muffled voice sounds from below. “Goldenrod for cuts, it’s the bright yellow flowers, chew into a poultice and apply onto wounds. Bind it with cobwebs,” called up Cloudwhiskers. He hurries up a tunnel and gets out the herbs. I stare into the dark tunnel. “What were you doing in there?” The fluffy white tom shrugs. “That’s none of your business.” I growl at his rudeness. “Plotting, perhaps?” “Just shut up, okay?” he snaps, and I turn tail and run out. If Cloudwhiskers won’t let me know what’s in that tunnel, then I’ll find out by myself. Chapter Three Enderkit had been found staring into the lake. He came back to camp reluctantly, and Sweetstar forced him to sleep in the Dirtplace, while she sent Wolfsong to be confined in the nursery, as well as me. I huddle up to Wolfsong, watching the first snowflakes fall from the sky. “Frostflower’s dead,” whispers Wolfsong. “She said that she’ll die when the first snowflake falls.” “Does the clan know?” I ask. Wolfsong nods and turns her head towards Foxfoot grooming her kits. Scorpionkit and Howlkit look thin and dishevelled, white Russetkit and Thrushkit look proud, neat, and plump. “She hates Scorpionkit and Howlkit,” Wolfsong murmurs to me. “It’s not their fault.” Her eyes are glazed, as if staring at nothing in particular. A tom enters the nursery and gives the two thin kits a quick grooming before Foxfoot lunges at him. “Who was that?” I whisper. “That was Dragonfang, their father. Foxfoot hates him the most. It’s… complicated,” she meows to me. The kits prance out of the nursery, followed by the glowing Foxfoot. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the Highledge for a clan meeting. Prisoners may also come.” I snarl in disgust. “So that’s what we are? Prisoners?” Wolfsong pads on in silence, and sits beside Nightclaw, my father. They twine tails, and I lie beneath their paws. “Yesterday was… eventful,” begins Sweetstar. “But on a happier note, let’s make four new warriors.” As if on cue, Hopepaw, Fluffypaw, Peacepaw and Brightpaw leap onto the Highledge. “Hopepaw, Fluffypaw, Brightpaw, and Peacepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and care for and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?” “Yes,” all four meow in unison. “Then by the power of Starclan, I give you your warrior names. Fluffypaw, now you shall be known as Fluffyfoot. Starclan honours your kindness and skill." "Fluffyfoot! Fluffyfoot! Fluffyfoot!" I nudge my mother. "Sweetstar gave her kits such nice names, and now they're receiving even nicer warrior names!" "All cats want the best names for their children," she purrs at me. On the Highledge, Sweetstar continued. "Brightpaw, you shall now be known as Brighteyes. Starclan honours your optimism and hunting skill. Hopepaw, from now on you shall be known as Hopeheart. Starclan honours your bravery and teamwork skill. And Peacepaw, you will be known as Peacesleep. Starclan honours your intelligence and cunning.” “Fluffyfoot! Brighteyes! Hopeheart! Peacesleep!” cheered the clan. I can only mutter my disgust and envy at their cool names. Enderkit walks up to me and I flinch. He looks hurt. “You know I’d never try to hurt you, Moonkit. You’re my sister.” “But you killed Hollyberry! She was innocent!” I retort at him as shame clouds his eyes. He steps back, eyes filled with hurt. “You don’t understand. I couldn’t control myself.” Enderkit was right. I don’t understand. Perhaps I never will. “Just don’t do it again, okay?” I meow. My brother nods and follows Wolfsong back to the nursery. The clearing empties as the shadow of a cloud passes through. Small raindrops strike my back. Chapter Four TBA Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty